Cabral acknowledges help in capturing NEMA crown

Wednesday

Nov 1, 2017 at 2:52 PM

Randy Cabral has six Northeastern Midget Association driver championships including the 2017 trophy. He appreciates each and declines comparing them. And he understands his place in NEMA history and is aware of how he got there. The latest crown came in a season where the 38-year old school teacher almost quit, actually suggesting owner Tim [...]

Lou Modestino

Kingston's Randy Cabral got another trophy to add to his big collection for winning the 2017 NEMA Championship. It was his sixth time. (Credit: NEMA Photo)

Randy Cabral has six Northeastern Midget Association driver championships including the 2017 trophy. He appreciates each and declines comparing them. And he understands his place in NEMA history and is aware of how he got there.

The latest crown came in a season where the 38-year old school teacher almost quit, actually suggesting owner Tim Bertrand “put somebody else in the car.” This title, he insists, is the result of the “emotional support” of Bertrand, who also celebrated his sixth championship, and the dogged determination of his father and crew chief Glenn Cabral.

After back-to-back midseason wins at Star and Thompson, Cabral finished with four-straight top-fours including two seconds. He and Bertrand finished 42 points in front of driver/owner Jim Chambers. Cabral, a winner for a record 18 straight seasons, also moved into third on NEMA's all-time win list.

“This one is gratifying considering a year ago I was in a hospital bed knowing one was slipping away,” Cabral says. “I wanted to get Tim what got away from us last year.” An injury in a Pro-4 race kept him out of the 2016 NEMA final, allowing John Zych Jr. to overtake him.

This season didn't start well. After much success in the #47, Cabral moved into Bertrand's #74 this year, a car that was very successful with a number of drivers the year before. “We couldn't get the car to handle,” he recalls. “The “#74 did so well for everybody else the year before and I couldn't pass a car. It got into my head and I told Tim to try another driver. He kept saying “it's the car, not you.”

Cabral had a sixth and two sevenths after four races when Glenn “went back to the drawing board.” After a fifth at the Boston Louis, he won back-to-back at Star and Thompson setting up the strong finish. While he freely admits fortune played a part (leader Seth Carlson had a tire go down with two to go), he points to the Star victory as the turning point. “It was the Butch Walsh Memorial, one of the few Memorials I hadn't won,” he says.”

Despite the start, the #74 didn't have a DNF, “a credit to my father,” Cabral says. While it is one of four cars in the Bertrand Motorsports stable, Glenn Cabral of Plymouth turns the wrenches. Father and son are a Lites team as well, an activity that brings joy to Glenn (“he likes being a car owner”) and more seat time for Randy (“you can't get enough seat time.”)

The consecutive years streak, he says, “is actually more important to my father,” says Cabral. His first wins came in his father's car and “the third and fourth year we didn't win until late in the year. I remember he was so concerned that we hadn't won yet.”

The Thompson win was his 51st, moving him past Russ Stoehr of Bridgewater into third. “I never imagined I would see that,” he says. “I've been going to races since I was a kid and I've seen so many good drivers struggle to win in these cars.” He sees the two ahead of him – National Midget Hall of Famers Drew Fornoro and Dave Humphrey – “in a class of their own and just to be mentioned in the same sentence is like a dream come true.”

Source: Tim Bertrand/NEMA PR

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